ObamaCare Increasing ER Visits and Waits in California

Fresno Fox affiliate KMPH doubted that the Affordable Care Act has made the American healthcare system better. KMPH reported on a study from the American College of Emergency Physicians that said Obamacare had a “destructive” effect on emergency rooms.

They found that emergency room visits and wait times had increased in California and the average wait for emergency room treatment was up to five hours. Dr. Peter Dornhofer of Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno told KMPH “I feel like I do a lot of primary care rather than emergency care.” They also reported that Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno was seeing 300-400 patients a day in their ER.

Dr. Robert Subers of Clovis, CA told the station he couldn’t accept Obamacare patients, saying “even if we loved it, and wanted to do it, we’d go bankrupt doing it” because he would lose money every time he saw a patient covered under the Affordable Care Act.

Subers added “if [Obamacare] was supposed to increase access to care…and if it was supposed to bring down healthcare costs, I’m trying to find out where it’s done either.” He also said he had never seen a government intervention into healthcare that was effective, and worried that America was moving towards a “Socialist” healthcare system.